


Your Love Leaves a Mark, But Never a Scar

by seibelsays



Series: Blessings and Curses [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Families of Choice, Waiting Rooms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-07-08 01:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19861144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seibelsays/pseuds/seibelsays
Summary: Bucky spends far too much time in hospital waiting rooms.A Blessings and Curses sequel.





	1. Clint

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the Blessings and Curses universe! I don't believe you need to have read the other stories in this series for this one to make sense, but I'd sure love you forever if you did.

Bucky’s phone buzzed incessantly in his pocket as he cleaned the paint off his hands. By the time he finally had a hand that was in decent enough condition to dig around in his pants for his phone, the buzzing had stopped. He unlocked the screen.

_3 missed calls_

He swiped through the list. Missed call from Steve. Two missed calls from Darcy. He tapped Darcy’s name and brought the phone to his ear as it connected. She picked up after two rings.

 _“Hey handsome.”_ Darcy’s voice was tired and quiet, immediately setting off alarms for Bucky. He quickly tamped down the voice screaming _FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT_ and tried to sound as reassuring as possible.

“Hey. Sorry I missed you. What’s going on?”

_“Clint’s in medical. I’m stuck in the lab - can you keep Steve company for a bit?”_

“Sure. What happened?”

Darcy hesitated. _“Steve will fill you in.”_

Classified then, if she wouldn’t discuss it over the phone. Probably a mission. 

“Anyone else I should call?”

_“We’re good.”_

Either it wasn’t all that serious - in which case Darcy wouldn’t be calling him in the first place - or someone else had already called Clint’s wife Laura. Which meant it was serious.

Bucky’s chest constricted at the thought, but he pushed it down. “I just need to close up the paint cans and I’ll be right over.”

_“Okay. Hey Buck?”_

“Yeah?”

_“I love you.”_

Bucky swallowed hard. He was the luckiest bastard in the whole damn multiverse and he would never, ever get tired of Darcy telling him how she felt. But the slightly breathless way she said it just now caused his stomach to drop and he briefly wished she hadn’t said a thing.

“I love you more than anything, Darce. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

* * *

Steve looked like hell. He was sitting in a waiting room chair, his head tilted back and resting against the wall with his eyes closed. He was covered in grime and his uniform had a few dark spots that were most likely blood. Bucky had to remind himself that if Steve was sitting out here, the blood wasn’t likely to be his.

He hoped it wasn’t Barton’s.

“Hey,” he said, forcing those thoughts away and startling Steve out of his doze.

Steve ran a still-gloved hand over his face and grimaced, before removing his gloves and dropping them on the floor.

“Hey.”

Bucky plopped into the seat next to Steve and patted his friend’s knee. 

Steve gave him a half-hearted slap to the leg before leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. 

“He fell off the building,” he said quietly. “His position was compromised and he fell. Landed on a car. By the time I got to him he was unconscious.” He finally raised his head and stared at the wall. “Thought he was dead.”

Bucky took a deep breath and tentatively reached out to squeeze Steve’s shoulder. There wasn’t anything he could say that would make Steve feel any better. The only thing he could do was be there. 

He regularly thanked the universe for bringing Darcy into his life, but today he was especially grateful. She knew that Steve would need him and called him in. He wasn’t entirely confident anyone else would have thought to do that. The weight of the ring he’d been carrying in his pocket for the last three months burned against his leg.

It was absurd - Darcy was his _soulmate_ and after everything they had been through - all the pain, the stress, the uncertainty - there was no doubt in his mind that when he asked, he would receive an enthusiastic yes. There would be screaming. So much screaming. And probably confetti and maybe an overexcited dog or two. There was no reason for him to be nervous or to keep waiting. He knew better than most that there was no such thing as a perfect moment. That didn’t stop him from wanting to wait for one all the same.

He pushed those thoughts aside. Steve and Clint needed him in the here and now - and he would do his best to be there for them.

The door flew open and Laura Barton burst into the room. “Where is he?” she demanded, her eyes puffy and bloodshot, but her voice steely. She was glaring at Steve and completely ignoring Bucky.

He couldn’t say he blamed her. Sure, Steve was team leader, so Clint had been stationed wherever Steve put him. Clint stayed put on Steve’s order. But Steve was also dirty and bruised and bloody because he’d been out there with Clint. Bucky was covered in dust and paint because he refused any and all offers to join Steve’s team as a second sniper and had spent today not fighting bad guys, but renovating his and Darcy’s home. He never wanted to pick up a rifle again and happily stayed close to home. Close to Darcy.

It was a choice that Laura would never ask Clint to make, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t resent Bucky for having made it instead. She was just usually better at hiding it.

The doctor chose that moment to enter the waiting room to provide an update. Shattered pelvis. Spinal swelling. Concussion. Bucky closed his eyes the longer the list went on. 

Clint would be fine. It would be a long recovery. But he would be fine. 

“Can I see him?” Laura asked and the doctor whisked her away.

Steve hung his head as the doctor led her away. 

“It could have been worse, Steve. It’s not good. But it could have been so much worse.”

“Days like today, I think you’ve got the right idea. Gettin’ out. Stayin’ home.”

Bucky didn’t respond. If he hadn’t stayed home, he might have been on that roof with Clint. He might have been on the next roof over. He might not have been so lucky. It might have been Darcy bursting in here, desperately waiting for an update - or worse. He couldn’t do that to her.

But if he hadn’t stayed home, maybe this never would have happened.

“I can’t help thinking - what if it had been Nat? And that’s terrible, Clint is just as valuable to the team as she is. Clint is my friend.” Steve shook his head. “But I can’t help thinking it.”

“It’s different. Nat’s your soulmate. Of course you’re going to-”

“I shouldn’t. I’m team leader. If I can’t set the personal aside-”

“Jesus, Steve, you’re not a robot.”

“-then maybe I shouldn’t be team leader anymore.”

Bucky stared at him. “Is that really what you want? Give up the shield? Then what?”

Steve shrugged. 

Bucky leveled a look at him. “The next time the world is in danger, do you really think you’re going to be able to sit on the sidelines?”

“You do it.”

He shook his head. “I’m not you, Steve. I never could be. I would never even want to try.”

Steve hung his head. “Maybe you’re better than me.”

Bucky thumped his head back against the wall and ignored Steve’s comment. “There’s plenty of time for debrief later. Figure out what went wrong. Make sure it doesn’t happen again. Right now, Clint and Laura and the rest of your team need you.”

Steve finally turned to look at Bucky. “How are you? Clint’s your friend, too - how are you doing with all this?”

Bucky shrugged. “Clint’s survived worse.”

Steve nodded. “He has, hasn’t he?”

“Get in there. Remind them both of that.”

Steve pulled himself out of his chair and made for the door. Bucky leaned forward and rubbed his eyes, making a mental note to call Darcy as soon as possible. Clint would be fine - they would all be fine. This time. Bucky just needed Darcy’s reassuring voice to help him remember that.

“Buck?”

He looked up to find Steve with his arms braced against the doorframe, as though he had hurried back and needed to grab the door in order to stop.

“Thank you.”


	2. Bob

“What the hell happened?” Bucky barked as he strode into the waiting area of the medical floor.

Steve sighed. “AIM attempted an infiltration of the tower.”

Bucky threw his hands out at his sides. “And?” He probably didn’t need to reiterate to Steve that civilians worked here. Their friends worked here. _His soulmate worked in the tower_ and he was going to be pretty damn salty about it if the security wasn’t up to par. He mentally prepared the speech anyway. It was preventing him from punching something. For now.

“And they didn’t get very far. They knocked Bob out after he managed to sound the alarm, putting the building into lockdown.”

Hold up. Bucky was confused. If that was it...if AIM didn’t make it past the lobby...that wasn’t enough to drag him all the way to Midtown. There was something Steve wasn’t telling him. “So I got called in...for a knockout?” he asked carefully. 

Steve looked grim. “AIM didn’t take being thwarted very well. When they realized they couldn’t access the labs, they started going for civilian targets. The theory is that they were going to use hostiages to negotiate tech and an exit.”

“Fucking AIM,” Bucky muttered. That’s it. He was taking over building security. His poor heart couldn’t take the stress. He sent a mental apology into the ether for all of the renovation projects for his and Darcy’s home that he wasn’t going to have time for now. Goodbye recessed living room lighting. So long updated bathroom floor tile. Farewell office bookcases. Scratch that - Darcy wanted the bookcases. The bookcases would make Darcy smile. Bucky would _make the bookcases happen_.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, his tone flat. AIM was a giant pain in the ass.

When more information wasn’t forthcoming, Bucky had to prod. Bucky hated having to prod. “Then what?”

“Bob woke up, realized what happened. Went and defended the daycare.”

Bucky softened a little. _Fucking Bob. Of course you did, you sap._ “I thought we had robots for that.”

Steve shrugged. “We did. AIM used a localized EM pulse to neutralize them. Bob took out six of their goons. Kids never saw a thing and AIM never got close.”

 _Well done Bob._ But, if they were here in medical, then…Bucky’s heart dropped, but he forced out the question. “And in the process?”

Steve sighed. “Earned himself a concussion, three broken ribs, and a punctured lung.”

Bucky growled a little, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Idiot,” he said, fondly.

“Verily.” Bucky glared at Steve for the joke, but Steve ignored him. “They’re keeping him asleep for now. I have a call in to his wife-”

“Ex-wife.” That was a whole other bag of cats Bucky didn’t really want to wade into.

“-but Alison’s in California. We offered to send the jet, but…”

Bucky grimaced. “Like I said. Ex-wife. Where are the kids?”

“With Alison.”

“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about then. Tiny mercies.” He looked Steve up and down. He looked tired and grumpy - rightfully so, given the days events. He probably had a thousand other things he needed to do before turning in for the night. It didn’t make any sense that he was here in the waiting room. Bob’s injuries were serious, but not so serious that he couldn’t recover from them. 

“So, if Alison knows and the kids are taken care of, why’d you call me in?” Bucky asked.

Steve looked at Bucky with concern. “Buck...You’re the only other family he’s got. He’s got you and Darcy listed as his other emergency contacts.”

Bucky was stunned. He and Bob went way back, and he was one of the few people Bucky trusted almost implicitly, but...he didn’t expect this.

Steve grinned at the look on Bucky’s face. “You know, one of these days, you’re just going to have to get used to the fact that people around here actually _like_ your grumpy ass. Why? Who knows. But they do.”

Bucky ignored him. “Can I see him?” His voice was tight with the emotion that he was just barely keeping a grip on. 

“Sure.” Steve led him to a small, private room, where Bob was asleep in a hospital bed and hooked up to what looked like an inordinate amount of machinery. There were way too many machines in here, weren’t there? Maybe he was just accustomed to how little he or Steve needed and this was normal. Bucky paused in the doorway, taking in the sight and swallowed hard. He really hoped this was normal.

He would never get used to it, seeing someone he cared about like this. He never wanted to get used to it either. He didn’t have many friends, almost no one he could consider family. Statistically speaking, they all spent more than their fair share of time in hospitals. Bucky’s luck was terrible that way.

“He’s going to be alright, Buck. It’ll just take a little while.” Steve clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Bucky nodded in acknowledgement, then finally entered the room. He pulled the chair over, so he could sit next to the bed, and sat down heavily. 

“What the hell were you thinkin’, Bob,” Bucky muttered. “I know, I know. You were thinking about the kids. And you done good, pal, but…” He shook his head and sat back in the chair, rummaging around his pocket for his phone. He held it up. “This is what I’m reduced to, do you see this? Don’t catch me unawares, this is what you get.”

Bucky tapped a few commands into his phone as he grumbled to himself about having to read off of a screen. “Alright, pal. I know Austen is our tradition, but you have _got_ to expand your horizons. Today, we’re reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. You’re lucky I get signal in here, otherwise you’d have to listen to me babble about my half-baked ideas on how to propose to Darcy.” He stared at Bob as waited for the book to finish downloading to his phone, watching his friend’s chest rise and fall with his gentle breathing. 

If one little thing had gone differently today, this could be an entirely different scene. A different phone call to Alison. A different waiting room.

He shook away the thought - there was no use in dwelling on “what if.” Story of his life. His phone lit up, indicating the download was complete and he tapped to the first page, cleared his throat, and began to read. 

“Okoloma was one of my greatest childhood friends. He lived on my street and looked after me like a big brother…”


	3. Lucky

Bucky threw open the door and ran inside the veterinarian's office. 

“Darcy?!” he yelled, trying (and failing) to control his panic.

“Bucky!” Darcy exclaimed and threw herself into his arms. 

He wrapped her up in his arms and held her close, kissing her temple. “What the hell happened?” he breathed.

Her breath hitched and he told himself that he wasn’t dying a little with every one of her tears that soaked his shirt.

“Kate and I were taking Lucky on his walk,” Darcy explained into his shoulder, her voice watery. “Some asswipe came out of nowhere - blew the light. We were in the crosswalk.” Her breath hitched again. “Bucky.” She buried her face in his chest and squeezed him tight. 

Bucky felt the panic rising in his chest and he almost couldn’t breathe. He could have lost her. One tiny change, and instead of hitting Lucky, this asshole could have hit Darcy. He could have _hit_ his _Darcy_. 

“Lucky knocked me down,” Darcy sobbed. 

That fucking dog. That goddamn _wonderful_ mother fucking dog.

“Where’s Kate?” he choked out, swallowing down everything else he wanted to say.

“On the phone with Clint.”

Bucky pulled away slightly and leaned down a little so he was at Darcy’s eye level. “Are you okay?” he whispered, cupping her face.

“Bucky,” she sobbed. Fat tears streamed down her face.

“Shhhhh,” he soothed, pulling her to his chest again. “Shhh, I’m here. I’ve got you. I’ve got you. I’m not going anywhere.” He peppered her hair with kisses and he could feel her breathing even out as she breathed him in. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

It was a trip every time. He didn’t think he’d ever get over how his mere presence was such a comfort to Darcy, but there it was. It was a gift that she trusted him this way. A gift he was wholly undeserving of, but one he wasn’t about to refuse. 

“Doctor Lewis?” a voice called.

Darcy turned in his arms and quickly wiped her face. “That’s me.”

“If you want to come back, we can discuss Lucky’s case.”

Darcy wrapped her fingers around Bucky’s and squeezed, pulling him along behind her as she followed the veterinarian back into the maze of exam rooms. Towards the back of the office, the doctor let them into a small room where Lucky was laid out on a table, feebly whining and attempting to shake off bandages the vet tech strategically placed all over him.

Darcy gasped and reached for Lucky, hesitating a hair above his head. Lucky pushed into her hand and whined again, trying to get off the table so he could snuggle her fiercely. Bucky understood the impulse.

She gave a little watery laugh then looked at the doctor. “How is he?”

“Lucky is appropriately named. He’s a little banged up, but he’s nowhere near as bad off as the last time he was hit by a car. I’d like to keep him overnight, just to make sure, but he should be fine with some care.”

Darcy relief was palpable as she smiled down at Lucky. “Hey buddy,” she whispered. “My hero. Guess who’s going to get _all the pizza_ just as soon as he’s able, huh?”

At the word “pizza” Lucky whined again and pushed into Darcy’s hand.

The tech adjusting the meds dripping into Lucky’s IV grinned. “Damn mutt really listens to you.”

Darcy stilled for the briefest of moments and Bucky’s heart plummeted through the floor at the sound of Darcy’s Words being uttered by someone else. Yes, they were confirmed soulmates, but they fought too long and too hard for him to just _forget_ all the uncertainty, the weeks of slowly getting know each other without words. He fell in love with her before she ever said a word to him and he would fight the entire universe to stay by her side.

Darcy wrapped her arm around Bucky’s waist and squeezed him into her side as she pinned the tech with an icy stare. 

“This ‘damn mutt’ just saved my life,” she replied evenly, then looked at Bucky. “You should give Lucky some love. He adores you.”

Bucky tore his eyes away from the tech and looked at Darcy, his glare immediately softening at the sight of so much love pouring out of her eyes. He cringed internally. _Darcy_ was the one with the traumatic day, and here she was comforting him because he couldn’t stop being a jealous idiot for more than five minutes. One more reason he in no way deserved her. Just add it to the list.

Maybe that was why he still had that ring in his pocket.

“I do owe everything to that damn mutt,” he murmured, brushing his lips to her hair before kneeling down in front of Lucky and scratching behind his ears.

“Hey buddy,” he whispered as Lucky whimpered softly. “It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. Me and Darce will take the best care of you while you get better.”

Darcy trailed her fingers over his shoulders, as though she didn’t quite want to let him out of arm’s reach. “Any prescriptions or anything we’ll need to fill?” she asked.

The doctor nodded. “I’ll have a list waiting for you out front. We’ll give you guys a minute to say goodnight and then we’ll get this handsome guy into the back where we can keep an eye on him tonight.”

Darcy nodded, then the doctor shooed the vet tech out of the office and closed the door behind them. Darcy slumped against Bucky.

“What a day,” she muttered.

He stood and grabbed the chair along the wall, pulling it over next to Lucky’s table, then sat down and tugged Darcy into his lap.

“You sure you’re okay?” he murmured to her as she closed her eyes and leaned into him.

Darcy hummed her assent. “Scared. Worried. Kinda crashing from all the stress and adrenaline. But yeah, I’m good.”

“You promise you’d tell me if you weren’t?” He hated how small his voice sounded, but he couldn’t help it.

Darcy smiled and the world righted itself again for a moment. “You don’t trust me by now?”

“I trust you with everything,” he murmured into her hair. “But god, Darcy - if anything ever happened to you, I -”

“I know,” she interrupted. “I feel the same way about you, you know. I don’t really want to think about it, though.”

Bucky tightened his arms around her. “Me either.”

Darcy squeezed him back. “At least Lucky’s going to be okay.”

Bucky dropped a kiss into her hair. “Yeah. I’m glad. Should we say goodnight to this guy and go find Kate?”

Darcy nodded and pulled herself reluctantly out of Bucky’s arms so she could give Lucky her full attention. Bucky was only slightly envious of the dog.

“We’ll be back for you tomorrow, bud, okay?” Lucky whined a little, miserably, but gave a few friendly licks to Darcy’s palm. “And then we’ll go home and get all the pizza.”

Darcy straightened from her crouch and moved the to door, wiping at her eyes. Bucky gave Lucky a few more scratches behind the ears.

“Thank you, Lucky,” he whispered. “Thank you.”


	4. Steve

“I’m getting _really_ tired of this wallpaper,” Bucky grumbled as the elevator let him out onto the medical floor.

“We have been to the medical floor quite a bit recently. Your complaint is noted and I’ll pass it along to all our superhero friends who throw themselves into danger on the regular,” Darcy grinned as she led him to the waiting room.

“You do that,” Bucky sighed. She was right, of course - this was really to be expected, given the company they kept and the lives they led.

But it was _really ugly_ wallpaper. He wondered if he could have it classified as a security threat and get it changed. It was certainly a threat to his already tenuous sanity and good humor.

As they entered the waiting room, Natasha and Clint glanced over to them. 

“Hey kids,” Clint said, leaning heavily on his crutches.

“I’m like, 50 years older than you,” Bucky replied. 

“You look it,” Clint shot back. “Grouchy.”

“Bucky’s doing his best Grumpy Cat impersonation today,” Darcy whispered to Natasha, who gave him a side glance that said everything he needed to know about her opinion on his attitude and the situation as a whole.

“How’s our boy?” Bucky asked her, changing the subject and trying to lighten up on the attitude. A little. 

Before Natasha could answer, a voice boomed through the waiting room.

“SIIIIIIIIIIINGING IN THE RAIN! JUST SIIIIIIIIIIIIIINING IN THE RAIN! WHAT A GLORIOUS FEEEEEEEEEEELING, I’M HAAAAAAAAAAPPY AGAIN!”

“Oh they’ve got him on the _good_ tranquilizers,” Clint grinned.

Natasha sighed the sigh of the long suffering while Darcy tried and failed to stifle her laugh.

“Please tell me someone is recording this,” she said between giggles.

Clint snickered. “I’m sure Tony’s got cameras somewhere.”

“Note to self - bribe FRIDAY. Got it,” Darcy said.

Natasha looked to Bucky. “Was he like this before the serum?”

Bucky shrugged. “We never had money for the good stuff.” Natasha glared at him and he grinned. “Yeah - he always liked to sing. At full volume.”

Natasha plugged on ear with her finger and scrunched up her face. “Was he always this bad at it? I would think that the serum would have given him perfect pitch.”

Bucky’s smile grew to shit-eating proportions. “Trust me. This is an improvement.”

Natasha groaned.

“How have you managed to not be subjected to this before?” Darcy asked.

Before Natasha could answer, Steve’s voice rang out again.

“DA DA DA DA DA DA I’M HAPPY AGAIN! I’M SINGIN’ AND DANCIN’ IN THE RAAAAAAAAIIINNN!”

Bucky chuckled. “Have fun, Nat.”

Natasha turned on him, her expression deadly. “Oh, I don’t think so. You should go collect your idiot.”

Wait. “My idiot? He’s your soulmate!” Bucky had seriously thought that the day Steve and Natasha found one another, his job as loopy, sing-y, Steve-wrangler was complete. It wasn’t half the reason he’d spent so much energy over the years looking for Steve’s soulmate, but it was a factor. 

“Not like this, he’s not.” She turned to Darcy. “Come stay with me while Barnes sorts out his idiot.”

“Jackpot!” Darcy cheered. She did a little dance of victory right there in the waiting room and Bucky’s heart melted all over again. He was pretty sure he had the world’s dopeyest expression on his face as the ring in his pocket burned against his leg once more.

Then he remembered that she was abandoning him to deal with Steve the Idiot.

“Hey!” 

Darcy shrugged. “Bucky, I love you.” _Must suppress dopey grin._ “But come on. I’m not turning Nat down.” Darcy linked arms with Natasha and led her away.

Bucky sighed and watched them go. Steve really never should have introduced them. “Traitor!” he called half-heartedly, once they were a safe distance away. He loved them both to pieces, but he wasn’t about to risk yelling things like that while they were in reasonable throwing distance. He had _some_ sense. Occasionally. Just not enough to get him out of Steve-wrangling duty, apparently. 

Well, at least he wasn’t alone.

“Just you and me then, buddy,” he said to Clint. 

“How did I get wrapped up in this?”

Bucky tossed him his phone. “Someone has to film it. I don’t trust Tony to fork over the footage for free.” 

“I’m sure Darcy could charm it out of FRIDAY.”

That was a good point actually. “You’re not wrong. Film anyway - we can never have too many angles on this kind of blackmail gold.”

Bucky led them down the hall, holding the door for Clint so he could hobble through on his crutches. Bucky didn’t need to ask what room Steve was in - he just followed the sound of badly sung showtunes echoing at increasing volume.

“I’M SINGING. AND DANCING. IN THE RAAAAAAAAAAAIIIINN!!!!”

“Stevie,” Bucky interrupted before Steve could start the song over again.

“BUCKY!” Steve cried happily. Clint held up the phone and dutifly started recording with a grin.

“Time to go home, pal,” Bucky said, moving to the side of the bed to lower the side rail so Steve could get up. He checked to make sure that the IV had already been removed. Ripping out an IV was hell on a normal person - ripping out an IV designed for a supersoldier? Not Advised™.

Steve hummed to himself as Bucky checked him over, then looked up at him, his eyes glazed.

“Where’s Darcy?”

“Ran off with that soulmate of yours. We’ve been abandoned, and honestly, I can’t say I blame them for it. We’re the worst. We deserve them approximately never.”

Steve grinned and swayed back and forth a little. “They are very much out of our league,” he agreed. “You ask Darcy yet?” Steve waggled his eyebrows.

Bucky glanced at Clint. “Not a word, Barton,” he warned.

“I’m not even here,” Clint promised, holding the camera up a little higher.

Bucky sighed, resigned himself to his fate, and looked back to Steve, offering his hand to steady him as he stood up. “No, I haven’t asked.”

Steve nodded, his eyes going big and wide, as though Bucky had just imparted the greatest wisdom in the universe. Bucky helped him to the wheelchair that they were probably just going to ditch as soon as they were out of sight of the nurses, but it spoke to the effectiveness of whatever drugs they had Steve on that he didn’t complain about it. Loopy Steve really was the best. 

“Good. Don’t.”

Bucky stopped so suddenly that Steve ran into his side and fell into the wheelchair sideways. “What? Why?”

Steve leaned back in the chair and started making whooshing noises. 

“Steve!” Steve looked at Bucky expectantly, clearly having lost the thread of the conversation somewhere in his brain fog. “Why shouldn’t I ask Darcy to marry me?”

Steve tried to push himself in the wheelchair, but was really only managing it with one arm. All he did was push himself in circles.

“They say no. They always say no.”

Bucky glanced at Clint, who turned off the camera and slowly tucked it into his pocket. The archers face was grim. Interesting - Clint already knew what Steve was referring to then. It was only Bucky that was in the dark.

He bit the bullet. “What do you mean?”

Steve shrugged. “I asked. Nat said no. Said she didn’t see the point.” He leaned so far back in the wheelchair that he almost tipped it over. Bucky caught him and sat him upright again. “‘Sfine. Shoulda known. Shoulda talked about it first.”

“Steve…”

“Don’t look like that, Buck. We’re fine. We’re still siiiiiiingin’ and daaaaaaancing,” Steve made a wild gesture with his hands and had it not been for Bucky’s quick reflexes he would have been punched in the face. “In the RAAAAAAIIIIINN!”

Bucky was at a loss. Drugged to high heaven or not, he knew that Steve meant what he said - it was fine that Natasha had said no. But he also knew that Steve had always wanted to get married. 

“Steve…” he tried again.

Steve leaned forward in the wheelchair and poked at Bucky’s face. “Frown. Upside down. Mister.” He pointed down the hall and set his jaw in that way he did before he called for the Avengers to assemble.

“Boys night,” Steve continued, with all the seriousness and gravity of a royal pronouncement.

“Sold,” Clint said immediately, relief at changing the subject clear on his face. “I’ll call everyone. Is Bob up and about yet?”

Bucky blinked, trying to clear the emotional whiplash of the last few moments. “We’ll have to go get him, but yeah.”

Steve nodded in approval. “Boys night.”

“Okay buddy. Boys night.”


	5. Jane

_Ding. Ding. Ding._

Bucky blinked awake at the soft tones humming through the living room. A flashing light from his phone briefly blinded him in the darkness as he sat up with a groan and rubbed his eyes. He flipped the phone over and grimaced at the bright screen. Wasn’t there a way to auto-adjust that? He’d have to check the settings again, he could have sworn he’d turned that on. Sudden bright lights did things to his brain that made him far grumpier than normal.

His vision was still a little blurry with sleep. He cleared his throat and blinked a few more times until the tiny type on the screen came into focus.

And then he ran for the door.

* * *

_Astrolab 1. Structural integrity breach. Unknown number of civilians trapped inside._

The message played on a loop in his head as he ran for his bike, the Indian roaring to life as it shot out of the garage and barreled at breakneck speed towards the Tower.

He didn’t dare think about any of the terrible things that could be happening _right this moment_ as he drove. If he did, if he lost focus for one second, he’d likely disintegrate into a sobbing mess and wind up a smear on the pavement, useless to anyone. He had to focus.

Get to the Tower. Get to Darcy. That was the mission.

* * *

He slammed the bike to a halt in front of the Tower, where Steve had already set up a command post just outside. 

“Steve!”

Steve turned around and nodded to him. “You clear for this?”

“Fuck you, I’m going in.”

“Buck.” Steve’s voice was calm and steady, and he projected an air of control and authority. He was everything Bucky wasn’t right now, and Bucky was once again reminded why he’d followed Steve into one scrape after another for so long.

He drew a shuddering breath. “Steve...it’s _Astrolab 1_.”

“I know.”

“ _It’s Darcy_.”

“ _I know_.” Steve took a measured breath and paused before continuing. “But if you can’t pull yourself together, you’re not going to be of any help to anybody. You know that.”

Bucky gripped the table in front of him. “I know,” he whispered. 

Steve squeezed his shoulder. “Take a breath, then tell me what you want to do. I’ll get you into place.”

Bucky closed his eyes and did a few of the triangular breathing exercises his therapist had taught him. “Okay. Okay, I’m good. Do you have a grid-”

“Can I get a little help over here?”

Bucky’s head snapped around in the direction of the voice. “DARCY!”

He sprinted towards her, where she was slowly dragging an unconscious Jane out of the building on a damaged, barely functional equipment cart. 

“She took the brunt of the blast. We were on the roof, adjusting the sensor array when the world exploded. She’s damn lucky she didn’t get blown off the side of the building,” Darcy reported as she handed the handle of the cart over to Bucky, who disregarded the cart entirely and scooped Jane up in his arms to take her to one of the waiting ambulances. “I checked through the labs I could get to as we came down - I didn’t see anyone else. DUM-E is holding up a section of the ceiling over Chem 5 though. I couldn’t tell if there’s anyone in there or if he’s just stuck. There was too much debris in the way and I didn’t want to leave Jane to climb through it.”

Bucky handed Jane off to the medics then turned to Darcy. He cupped her face in his hands and did an astonishingly quick field exam. Her eyes were clear, she wasn’t slurring. She was bruised and sweaty and dirty, but otherwise she looked better than okay. He pulled her to him and he felt her go a little limp in his arms as she settled into the embrace.

“Bucky, you have to let me tell Steve about Chem 5,” she said without conviction as she squeezed him tighter.

“In a second,” he promised, dropping a kiss into her hair and thanking every passing deity that she was alright.

* * *

Bucky flipped through the incident report as he sipped his coffee and sat next to Jane’s hospital bed. He’d finally convinced Darcy to at least head up to the common floor to shower and eat and _heaven forbid_ maybe even nap. She refused to go all the way home, insisting that she wanted to be around for Jane, so this was the best compromise he could get her to agree to. 

Darcy had been right - Jane had gotten the brunt of things. No other major injuries had been reported in the wake of the explosion. That might have been different, had it not been for DUM-E’s quick thinking, wedging itself between the collapsing ceiling and the terrified scientists in Chem 5. Bucky felt a wave of affection for the robot - although his reaction was nothing compared to Tony’s when he had found out what the robot had done.

Bucky was fairly sure there was gold plated armor and possibly a statue in the works. He was also convinced the unveiling of said statue would be a sight worth braving a crowd for.

Jane shifted in the bed and softly moaned. Bucky looked up from the report to see Jane blinking slowly.

He cringed internally. Darcy was going to be so pissed Bucky had sent her away and Jane woke up.

Jane looked over at him. “Bucky?” she rasped.

“Hey,” he said, setting the incident report aside and reaching for the cup of ice chips he’d grabbed earlier. He offered it to Jane who pushed his hand away.

“Where’s Darcy?” she demanded. The heart monitor started beeping more rapidly. “Oh god, is she okay? She’s not okay is she? Did she make it out - wait.” Jane blinked at him and the beeping on the monitor slowed just a little. “You’re here. You’re not freaking out. Darcy’s fine.”

Bucky couldn’t suppress his grin. “When did I become that transparent?”

“The day the two of you met.”

He tilted his head in acknowledgement. He wasn’t sure it was _that_ quickly, but it was close. Bucky had never been able to hide a damn thing when it came to Darcy.

Jane reached for the cup and Bucky handed it over easily. She used the remote on the bed to move into a sitting position, shook the cup, then lifted it to her lips. “Darcy grabbing a nap?” she asked around a mouthful of ice chips.

“Probably not. She’ll probably wash her face, grab a granola bar, and be back to kick me out of my chair and fuss over you any second now.”

“That’s our girl.” Jane gave him a critical look. “So. What’s the head of Avengers security doing at my bedside when there was a major explosion at the Tower?”

He sighed and lifted the report for Jane to see. “I’m multitasking.”

Jane smirked. “You regret getting back in?”

Bucky shrugged. “I’m not really in. I’m…” he sighed. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he muttered.

Jane’s look softened. “You’re helping.”

“Sure.”

They were quiet for a bit as Jane laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes for a minute while she munched on her ice chips. The silence was comfortable, in a way Bucky hadn’t expected it ever would be with Jane. He picked up the incident report again and flipped through it. There wasn’t anything here he didn’t already know, but he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had the thing memorized, the better to plan and make changes so something like this never happened again.

“You ask her yet?” Jane asked, breaking the silence.

Bucky froze momentarily, then glanced up at Jane. “You think you wouldn’t hear about it if I had?”

Jane conceded the point with a tilt of her head. “What are you waiting for?”

Bucky flipped the file closed. “I don’t know,” he muttered. He set the report aside again and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and rubbing his hands together. “She gettin’ worried?”

Jane tsked at him. “Not a question for me, Bucky.”

He sighed. “I know.”

“You already know what her answer will be.”

“I do.”

“Oh good, you’re practicing,” Jane teased. “Bucky, I don’t know what you’re waiting for - but it doesn’t really matter. When the time is right, you’ll know.”

He let out a shaky breath. “Promise?”

“Promise.”


	6. Bucky

Bucky checked his watch, carefully timing his arrival onto the lab floor to coincide with Darcy’s usual coffee run. He peeked around the corner and into her lab, seeing Darcy’s usual station empty and Jane with her nose in a notebook. He grinned. Perfect timing.

“Jane?”

Jane’s head snapped up in surprise. She blinked a few times before registering who was calling her name. “Hey Bucky. Darcy just ran out for coffee, but she’ll be back in a few if you want to wait.”

“Actually, I’m here to talk to you.”

“Oh.” To Bucky’s surprise, Jane set her notebook aside and gave him her full attention. “What’s on your mind?”

Bucky glanced down the hall then quickly ducked inside the lab. As he approached Jane’s desk, he rubbed the back of his neck, a little sheepishly. “I kinda need a favor.”

“Okay?”

“A weird one.”

“O...kay?”

Bucky puffed out his cheeks as he exhaled, gathering his courage to ask his question. “Can you...not make any universe-shattering discoveries on Friday?”

Jane stared at him. “Um.”

“It’s just - I’m planning to make dinner, and-”

“Oh. _Oh!_ ” Jane grinned at him. “I can make no such promises, Bucky.” 

Bucky felt a little unsteady - his first instinct was to admit defeat at her words, but the expression on her face gave him a little bit of hope. He figured he must have a _really_ stupid look on his face, with the way Jane’s eyes danced with delight. 

“Darcy will get home on time,” Jane reassured. 

Bucky breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“I want non-explicit details on Monday though.”

“I will...leave that to Darcy.”

* * *

Bucky stared at the shelf in front of him. Just how many types of pasta were around these days? He just wanted some elbow noodles! He closed his eyes and thought back to that first dinner Darcy had made for them - way back before his triggers had been removed, before they could actually speak to one another, when they were learning to communicate without words at all. He could picture the box of noodles clearly and when he opened his eyes, it was on the shelf immediately in front of him like magic. He grinned and tossed it in the cart, then referred back to his list. Only a few more aisles and then he would have everything he needed.

Everything that would show Darcy that he wanted to be here - tonight, tomorrow night, and every night after that.

* * *

Bucky was just sliding the coq au vin into the refrigerator to do its thing overnight when he heard the telltale rattle of keys in the door, sending his heart rate spiking into the stratosphere. The door flew open, revealing a grinning Darcy and a barking Lucky, who quickly bounded to the living room and jumped onto the sofa.

“Do I smell what I think I smell?” she asked, as she carefully redid all of the locks.

“What do you think you smell?” he asked as he poured the noodles and the cheese sauce into a baking dish.

Darcy pressed herself against his back and wrapped her arms around his torso as she laid tiny kisses between his shoulder blades.

“Coq au vin. Girl might think you’re trying to spoil her,” she murmured into his shirt.

“Girl might be correct.”

Darcy hummed happily and released him, so he could slide the baking dish into the oven.

“Coq au vin _and_ macaroni and cheese. Is it my birthday?”

Bucky set the timer, then turned to Darcy. He gathered her up in his arms and gave her a slow, sweet kiss.

“Nope,” he whispered against her lips.

“Anniversary?”

“Nope.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What’d you break?”

Bucky laughed. “Nothing you’ll miss.”

Darcy grinned, then laid a hand on his chest. Her smile quickly dimmed. “Baby, your heart is racing.”

Bucky shifted slightly. “Maybe you just do that to a guy,” he said.

These nerves were _ridiculous_. He was history’s most prolific assassin. He’d faced down Hydra and Nazis and the wrath of an uncaffeinated Jane Foster time and again. He’d followed Steve into the absolute bowels of war and came out the other side - maybe not entirely the same, definitely not unscathed, but the point was that he’d _survived_.

Proposing to his soulmate should not be this nerve racking.

Darcy’s expression grew worried. “Bucky? What’s going on?”

“Uhm…” he hedged as his mouth went dry.

Darcy looked at the stove, calculating. “This is the same menu I put together the first time I made dinner for us. I made it to show you I wasn’t going anywhere. And...you said that it told you that I wanted to make plans with you. To be here, to _keep_ being here. That night, the next night, and all the nights that followed.” Her eyes snapped back to his like magnets. “Bucky?” she breathed.

This was it. This was the moment. Probably.

“Darcy...I…”

_Now or never, Barnes._

He took a small step back so he could do this properly. One knee, a sappy speech, the whole thing. Everything Darcy deserved.

And then he promptly lost his balance as Lucky snuck up behind him. He heard the poor dog yelp in pain as Bucky half landed on him.

Bucky’s head snapped back against the floor and pain exploded through his mind, just before everything faded to black.

* * *

Bucky slowly floated back to awareness. He kept his eyes closed as he took a mental tally of himself. His thoughts weren’t sluggish. There was no bone-deep chill to shake off. He was a little stiff, his muscles sore, but otherwise he felt like he was merely waking up from a long, well-earned nap.

He felt someone softly tracing a line along the back of his hand. Hair tickled his nose as someone leaned in close to place a gentle kiss at the corner of his mouth.

_Darcy._

He slowly blinked, his sensitive eyes adjusting to the brightness of the room. A hospital room. Great. Darcy was perched on a chair next to his bed, leaning in close to him, gently stroking the stubble on his chin.

“Hey Darce,” he breathed

“Got anything to say to me?” she asked, her voice trembling just a little.

He blinked. What was she…

Oh.

_Oh._

His last memory just before waking up rushed back. He’d planned everything out. The menu, what he’d say, what he’d wear. He wasn’t nervous about her answer - he knew that she loved him, that she wanted to be with him always. He was nervous that he would screw up the actual _asking_ and disappoint her entirely.

Disappointing Darcy was just something he wasn’t prepared to live with. Ever.

And then he’d tripped over the damn dog and screwed everything up by hitting his head and passing out. Apparently, he’d done such a good job of worrying Darcy that he had warranted a trip to the hospital. 

Perfect. Just perfect.

Darcy must have sensed his turmoil, quickly changing the subject. “This is a switch, you know,” she said, giving him a small smile and clearly trying to rally. “Normally, you’re the one visiting people in medical.”

He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Yeah well. We’re surrounded by accident prone idiots.”

“True.”

He was silent for a bit, just listening to Darcy breathe. “I hate the hospital,” he said finally, breaking the silence.

“You hate the hospital, or you hate being the one stuck in the hospital bed?”

“Both.”

“I get the latter, but why the former?”

He took Darcy’s hand in his and gently played with her fingers, stroking his thumb across the back of her hand. “It’s just...I don’t have many people that I would consider...anything really. So when one of them gets hurt, I…” his voice trailed off, but Darcy seemed to understand.

“This is what comes along with caring about people - with building a life and a family outside of your own head. It’s messy and it hurts. Certainly, the last thing I wanted to do tonight was sit by your sickbed.”

“God, Darcy, I’m so sorry-”

Darcy shushed him softly, then pressed a kiss to her fingertips and held them out to him. He gently grasped her wrist and pulled her hand closer, so he could return the familiar gesture with a small smile.

“I would rather be here with you, than literally anywhere else without you,” she reassured him.

Bucky’s heart melted. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now,” Darcy’s smile grew into a knowing grin. “Got anything to say to me?”

He chewed on his lip. This was...not how he’d planned on doing this. But what the hell. He could improvise. He chucked the plan and the speech and all of it right out the proverbial window. Jane promised he would know the right moment. The right moment just didn’t look anything like what he’d expected.

“Wanna get married?” he asked, his voice cracking a little.

Darcy’s smiled slowly. “Yeah,” she replied.

“To me, specifically,” he clarified, “not just in general?”

Darcy laughed as her smile grew. “Yes.”

He nodded, sighing a little with relief. “That’s good,” he said. “That’s really good. I’d really like to get married.”

“To me specifically? Or in general?”

Bucky winced. “I deserved that.”

“Yes, you did.”

He reached for his pocket and had a realization. “I’m...not wearing any pants.”

Darcy cackled softly. “No, you’re not. Hospital, remember?”

“There’s a ring in my pants that I’d like to give to you.”

“We’ll get it later,” she promised. “For now, I want my first kiss as an engaged lady.” She leaned in and gave him a soft, thorough kiss. Gravity gave up around him as he melted into Darcy’s embrace, forgetting the world and grounding him to it all at once.

The most perfect woman in the universe was _his soulmate_ and she had agreed to marry _him_. Bucky wanted to go running to the roof to shout his joy to the entire world. He would, if it didn’t involve interrupting history’s most perfect kiss that was happening right now.

Reality crashed back in with the sound of the door flying open.

“Bucky!” Steve said, rushing forward, Clint, Nat, Bob, and Jane quickling filing in behind him. “What the hell happened?”

Darcy leaned back with a huff of quiet laughter, clearly amused at Steve’s utter obliviousness to the situation. Jane’s eyes lit up and Nat mouthed a silent apology, as Steve fret over Bucky.

“Well,” Bucky replied dryly, “I got knocked over by a dog, met my soulmate, ran from said soulmate, who then dutifly chased after me and didn’t let me hide away.”

“You’re welcome,” Darcy interjected.

He winked at Darcy, then continued. “Then I had a genius princess put me in cryofreeze to remove the brainwashing triggers a bunch of homicidal Nazis stuck in my head -”

“Um,” Steve interrupted, “I meant -”

“I know what you meant, I was getting to that.”

“Get there faster.”

Bucky laughed as Natasha reached around Bob to smack Steve lightly. He looked to Darcy. She tilted her head.

_Go for it._

Bucky addressed the room. “Darcy and I are getting married.”

A round of cheers and congratulations went up from their assembled friends.

“Dibs on best man!” Clint said, earning looks of derision from both Steve and Bob. “What? Not my fault you two didn’t think of calling it.”

“Who said any of you idiots were going to be invited?” Bucky grumbled.

Darcy lightly pinched his side. “Behave.”

“Never.”

“You seriously proposed from a hospital bed?” Bob asked, then hid his face in his hands. “Barnes!” he whined.

“You know what, I don’t like your tone. I’m in a hospital bed, you have to be nice to me.”

“Who said that?” Natasha asked, with a grin.

“I’m nice to all of you when you’re in hospital beds,” he muttered.

“That’s because you’re an overprotective sap,” Darcy teased.

Bucky glared at her half-heartedly and Darcy grinned in return. His chest warmed as he looked around the room, at this small group of people who had come to mean so much over the last few years. A family, insomuch as he’d known one here in the future. They didn’t replace the people he’d lost. No one ever could. But in this moment, Bucky was certain he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else here with him.

“We’ll let you get some rest,” Jane said, already shooing Clint out the door, holding it for him so he could navigate with his crutches. “Congratulations!” Bob and Natasha followed, leaving Steve behind to fret over Bucky.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked.

Bucky grinned. “I fell and hit my head. No big deal.”

“You’re in the hospital, Buck.”

Bucky motioned at Darcy. “She’s an overprotective sap.”

“Yes I am,” Darcy nodded.

Steve hesitated, chewing on his lip for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll be right outside, if you need anything.” He turned and with one glance over his shoulder, left the room.

“He’s going to mother hen you for at least a week and a half, you know that, right?” Darcy asked.

Bucky felt a fond smile cross his face. “Will you protect me?”

“Always.”

His smile grew as he reached for her hand and tugged her closer. He carefully moved over so she could crawl into the ned next to him. She laid her head on his chest with a happy sigh.

“We’re gettin’ married,” he breathed.

Darcy grinned, not opening her eyes. “Yeah. We’re getting married.”

He pressed a kiss into her hair. “I love you, soulmate,” he breathed.

Darcy sat up slightly so she could lean in and kiss him properly. “I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, the Blessings and Curses universe comes to a close. Thanks for coming along with me on this ride.
> 
> Come yell about superheroes with me. I'm @seibelsays on Tumblr and all my writing updates are @seibelsays-andwrites.
> 
> Until next time, may all your favorite bands stay together.  
> <3 seibelsays


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